Stickball, skully and hopscotch used to be as common on New York’s streets as cars.

These days, vehicles have totally taken over, but transportation advocates are fighting back to carve out space for kids. Transportation Alternatives is putting out another call for neighborhoods to apply to make their street a “Play Street,” where communities can close off blocks of New York to traffic. This allows children a safe environment to play in while tackling the childhood obesity problem.

The program is administered by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, with TA and the Strategic Alliance for Health offering assistance to those who wish to go through the Play Street application process. The deadline for submitting an application to the Department of Health is February 21. Last summer, 15 streets participated in the program, and Transportation Alternatives has written to the Mayor asking him to commit to raising this number to 66 by the year 2030.

Sduffy@observer.com. Occupy the Farm.

Occupy Playgrounds

Libraries as Disappearing Public Spaces. Adbusting Esprit/ Occupy public space. Occupy Wall Street: Here's the letter that fre...
Barricades Removed From Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street Protesters Rejoice. Barricades Come Down at Zuccotti Park, Protesters Re-Occupy. Last night the barricades that have been surrounding Zuccotti Park in downtown New York finally came down after repeated complaints and letters from the National Lawyers' Guild and others.

Almost immediately, protesters re-entered, as Gothamist reports: Earlier this evening, the barricades were removed and stacked off to the sides, permitting visitors to enter the park wherever their heart's desire, instead of the narrow security checkpoints. FREEDOM! But with freedom comes responsibility; according to one occupier, "Brookfield Security said unless we do something stupid the park will remain open!

There are more than 500 privately owned public spaces in New York City, most of which are clustered in Midtown, Lower Manhattan and the Upper East and West Sides. You’ll find a fewstragglers around Downtown Brooklyn, and one lonely spot — 1 Court Square — in Long Island City, Queens (think the big, glass Citigroup Building).

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